Ok I know there are a few salty Devil dogs out there that can help me with this one. I'm going to be in Okinawa in a month or two and I'd like to know what is there to do? Mind you I'm married and love my wife so no "Buy me drinkee" girls.

After the guys in your platoon take you to the banana show, call the dive shop on Kadena and get your PADI SCUBA certification. It's cheap through MWR and (trust me) you'll regret it for a long time if you don't do it there.
Find someone who teaches Okinawan Kenpo over there and sign up. It's a great way to learn a useful skill, and you might get a chance to throat punch an officer in an atmosphere where all he can do about it is hit you back. :D When I was there, they had a dojo on Camp Foster and one at Kinser, but I never checked on the bases further north. I imagine you're going to Hansen or Schwab?
Get hooked up with either the base intramural rugby or soccer team. A good time is had by all. If you go rugby, you'll learn a lot of dirty drinking songs.

SCUBA.
learn to fly.
golf.
martial arts...the real deal.
mongoose vs cobra fights.
visit the Kadena PX and scare the AF wives with your mere presence.
Get a Harley for a really good price, but you will have to wait until you return to CONUS before you can ride it.

Originally Posted By Jarhead_22:
After the guys in your platoon take you to the banana show.... get your PADI SCUBA certification.
Find someone who teaches Okinawan Kenpo

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I know what the Banana show is and that just is not me... But the rest you said I'll go for I'm only going to be on the rock for about 8 or so weeks. Before I go on ship the 31 MUE we are not going over the equator so I'm still going to be a shell back but anyway I may get to see some action where I'm going..

Originally Posted By Jarhead_22:
After the guys in your platoon take you to the banana show, call the dive shop on Kadena and get your PADI SCUBA certification. It's cheap through MWR and (trust me) you'll regret it for a long time if you don't do it there.
Find someone who teaches Okinawan Kenpo over there and sign up. It's a great way to learn a useful skill, and you might get a chance to throat punch an officer in an atmosphere where all he can do about it is hit you back. :D When I was there, they had a dojo on Camp Foster and one at Kinser, but I never checked on the bases further north. I imagine you're going to Hansen or Schwab?
Get hooked up with either the base intramural rugby or soccer team. A good time is had by all. If you go rugby, you'll learn a lot of dirty drinking songs.

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OH the memories.......*sigh*
also [i] "short time 10 dolla's, long time 20"[/i]

Originally Posted By Jarhead_22:
After the guys in your platoon take you to the banana show, call the dive shop on Kadena and get your PADI SCUBA certification. It's cheap through MWR and (trust me) you'll regret it for a long time if you don't do it there.
Find someone who teaches Okinawan Kenpo over there and sign up. It's a great way to learn a useful skill, and you might get a chance to throat punch an officer in an atmosphere where all he can do about it is hit you back. :D When I was there, they had a dojo on Camp Foster and one at Kinser, but I never checked on the bases further north. I imagine you're going to Hansen or Schwab?
Get hooked up with either the base intramural rugby or soccer team. A good time is had by all. If you go rugby, you'll learn a lot of dirty drinking songs.

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WIth all the AF bashing going on the last few weeks, why even sugguest going over to Kadena??? Can't you find enough to do on the island without sucking up to the AF and using thier facilities???
Don't forget to visit whisper alley and BC street. Get a car and drive all over the island, lots and lots of kick ass places to visit if you're into WWII history. Just don't let the locals know you're a Marine as for the most part the Marines have a extremly bad rep on the island.

Hah! Yes indeed! Shorin Ryu schools are very serious, NO BS true fighting karate, even here in the states. They're even tougher in Okinawa.
For reference, a Shorin Ryu green belt (first major belt past white) is MORE than equal to just about any Tae Kwon Do black belt that I've ever seen.
CJ

"Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they will learn why they fear the night."....Thulsa Doom

Originally Posted By Jarhead_22:
After the guys in your platoon take you to the banana show, call the dive shop on Kadena and get your PADI SCUBA certification. It's cheap through MWR and (trust me) you'll regret it for a long time if you don't do it there.
Find someone who teaches Okinawan Kenpo over there and sign up. It's a great way to learn a useful skill, and you might get a chance to throat punch an officer in an atmosphere where all he can do about it is hit you back. :D When I was there, they had a dojo on Camp Foster and one at Kinser, but I never checked on the bases further north. I imagine you're going to Hansen or Schwab?
Get hooked up with either the base intramural rugby or soccer team. A good time is had by all. If you go rugby, you'll learn a lot of dirty drinking songs.

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WIth all the AF bashing going on the last few weeks, why even sugguest going over to Kadena??? Can't you find enough to do on the island without sucking up to the AF and using thier facilities???
Don't forget to visit whisper alley and BC street. Get a car and drive all over the island, lots and lots of kick ass places to visit if you're into WWII history. Just don't let the locals know you're a Marine as for the most part the Marines have a extremly bad rep on the island.

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Next time, bring some cheese to go with your whine. Sounds like you still have some sand on your clit. Try some of this...[img]http://www.vagisil.com/images/ps_foamingwash.gif[/img]

Originally Posted By Jarhead_22:
After the guys in your platoon take you to the banana show, call the dive shop on Kadena and get your PADI SCUBA certification. It's cheap through MWR and (trust me) you'll regret it for a long time if you don't do it there.
Find someone who teaches Okinawan Kenpo over there and sign up. It's a great way to learn a useful skill, and you might get a chance to throat punch an officer in an atmosphere where all he can do about it is hit you back. :D When I was there, they had a dojo on Camp Foster and one at Kinser, but I never checked on the bases further north. I imagine you're going to Hansen or Schwab?
Get hooked up with either the base intramural rugby or soccer team. A good time is had by all. If you go rugby, you'll learn a lot of dirty drinking songs.

View Quote

WIth all the AF bashing going on the last few weeks, why even sugguest going over to Kadena??? Can't you find enough to do on the island without sucking up to the AF and using thier facilities???
Don't forget to visit whisper alley and BC street. Get a car and drive all over the island, lots and lots of kick ass places to visit if you're into WWII history. Just don't let the locals know you're a Marine as for the most part the Marines have a extremly bad rep on the island.

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Next time, bring some cheese to go with your whine. Sounds like you still have some sand on your clit. Try some of this...[url]http://www.vagisil.com/images/ps_foamingwash.gif[/url]

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Nope no sand here, just stating fact based data.
Course when you hear something you don't like and you can't think of anything else to say there is nothing like always resorting to personal attacks eh????

Originally Posted By Shrike9:
Course when you hear something you don't like and you can't think of anything else to say there is nothing like always resorting to personal attacks eh????

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This isn't a personal attack?

Originally Posted By Shrike9:
Can't you find enough to do on the island without sucking up to the AF and using thier facilities???
Don't forget to visit whisper alley and BC street. Get a car and drive all over the island, lots and lots of kick ass places to visit if you're into WWII history. Just don't let the locals know you're a Marine as for the most part the Marines have a extremly bad rep on the island.

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Some free advice:
If you're ashamed of the choices you made in life, don't take it out on others. Attempt to better yourself. You'll be happier in the end.

Originally Posted By Shrike9:
Course when you hear something you don't like and you can't think of anything else to say there is nothing like always resorting to personal attacks eh????

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This isn't a personal attack?

Originally Posted By Shrike9:
Can't you find enough to do on the island without sucking up to the AF and using thier facilities???
Don't forget to visit whisper alley and BC street. Get a car and drive all over the island, lots and lots of kick ass places to visit if you're into WWII history. Just don't let the locals know you're a Marine as for the most part the Marines have a extremly bad rep on the island.

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Some free advice:
If you're ashamed of the choices you made in life, don't take it out on others. Attempt to better yourself. You'll be happier in the end.

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Nope it is not a personal attack in any way shape or form. Have you never had a discussion or arguement with anybody where oposing parties did not resort to name calling and personal attacks??? If you think this is a personal attack then may I suggest you research the definition of personal attack.
Oh and by the way I aint in any way shape or form ashamed of a single choice I made in life. Have you looked in a mirror lately???
I've yet to see anybody try and rebute my orginal statement that has resulted in people commenting about me and my life choices among other things but nobody has rebuted my fact based data statement.

I spent 3 years there in the late 60's as a military dependant. Those were some of my best childhood memories. We lived at the Machinato housing area and had a great time exploring the island. I agree with the guys who urged you to take advantage of the scuba opportunities. The waters are teaming with coral reefs and colorful fish. I hope to go back someday and recapture some of those old memories!

Originally Posted By tayous1:
I'm going to be in Okinawa in a month or two and I'd like to know what is there to do? Mind you I'm married and love my wife so no "Buy me drinkee" girls.

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First get yourself a big bottle of Habu Sake. Drink it all by yourself. Go to whisper alley and make some friends. Go to B.C. street and take in a banana show. Drink about 12 bottles of Orion. Head back to base and stop for some yakitori on the way. You should make it home just in time to see a lawyer and get a divorce.

Uh, dare I ask....
What's a banana show?
I can think of several possibilities and they vary from intriguing to positively frightening.
If the answer can't be posted directly to the forum, IM message it to me.
I lived on Okinawa from '67 to '69 as a military dependent, too, but as I was born in '65, you can understand that I didn't get to do much scuba diving or explore the burial caves in the cliff that started just behind the back yard wall of our house.
But I do remember the night the fully loaded B-52 crashed on the runway (aborted takeoff, with extreme complications) and all its bomb load blew up.
As do I remember the SR-71's flying in and out on a regular schedule, some time before the Air Force acknowledged the plane to exist!
CJ

"Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they will learn why they fear the night."....Thulsa Doom

First..you should learn the history and the culture..
Next..learn some rudimenatary Japanese phrases
such as "Thank you", "Good Morning".
Next..you should visit historical sites.
Go to some good resturants and hotels.
Beaches.
And definately check out cultural events.
[url]http://www.okinawa.com/home.html[/url]

Well there are allot of problems with what some of you posted
In a UDP unit (thirty worst MEU is a still a UDP unit) only SNCOs and Officers can have a car (so you have to use the bus service to get around) or hard liquor (III MEF policy, so you cannot legally buy Habu Saki and if you do get it at around 100 a bottle for a gift you have to make a deal with a SNCO or O to carry it back to the states for you). You will be at Camp Hansen not Schwab when you are on Island. The Gym is alright there, but other than that there is not allot to do on Hansen. The Hansen PX (charge C store prices) sucks but will rebuilt in 3-4 years. Most units restrict your ability to get a phone in your barracks room to permenate personal or Staff and O, but cell phone are cheap and incoming calls are normally free (allot of Marine have their wives go to SAMs get an international calling card and call them at a pretty low rate, there is also a III MEF moral line for 10 min a week free calls home, but the hours are normally pretty weird). Outside Hansen is Kinville, AKA Sinville, and all there is there really are the Philippine "by my drinkee bars," not allot else. If you are there in the summer time what allot of my guys did was go snorkeling/spear fishing and sell what they caught to the local fish market. I had 1 SNCO that made about 150-200 a weekend doing this. Unfortunately, since you are married you will be losing your COMRATS while you are there. But recently they have starting giving enlisted Marines COLA of about 300 dollars a month to make up for that.
Actually the best base to go to for its PX/Commissary is Camp Foster, it's PX and Commissary are actually the largest on Oki.

Originally Posted By ian187:
i heard rape is very popular over there with the marines.

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Well the most recent one involved an Air Force SSGT, but thanks anyway for playing I don't know what I am talking about. What you find is because of the Marine Corps large presence on Okinawa and fearsum reputation (some times being very brutal in the conquest of the island) allot of incidents involving US service member the Japanese automatically say it was a Marine, whether it was or not. The incident you are referring to occurred in around 7 plus years ago and was a joint operation, since it involved service members from 2 different services. What is often not mentioned is that they were all members of street gangs back in the states.

In a UDP unit (thirty worst MEU is a still a UDP unit) only SNCOs and Officers can have a car (so you have to use the bus service to get around) or hard liquor (III MEF policy, so you cannot legally buy Habu Saki and if you do get it at around 100 a bottle for a gift you have to make a deal with a SNCO or O to carry it back to the states for you). You will be at Camp Hansen not Schwab when you are on Island. The Gym is alright there, but other than that there is not allot to do on Hansen. The Hansen PX (charge C store prices) sucks but will rebuilt in 3-4 years. Most units restrict your ability to get a phone in your barracks room to permenate personal or Staff and O, but cell phone are cheap and incoming calls are normally free (allot of Marine have their wives go to SAMs get an international calling card and call them at a pretty low rate, there is also a III MEF moral line for 10 min a week free calls home, but the hours are normally pretty weird). Outside Hansen is Kinville, AKA Sinville, and all there is there really are the Philippine "by my drinkee bars," not allot else. If you are there in the summer time what allot of my guys did was go snorkeling/spear fishing and sell what they caught to the local fish market. I had 1 SNCO that made about 150-200 a weekend doing this. Unfortunately, since you are married you will be losing your COMRATS while you are there. But recently they have starting giving enlisted Marines COLA of about 300 dollars a month to make up for that.

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I was there two years at the MCAS, 88-90.
When did things go so far downhill?
That sounds really bad. They even took the booze ration cards off of us in 90 and let us start paying for things again in Johnny Walker like in the Old Corps.

Originally Posted By LS1Eddie:
Eat at Charlie's Tacos on BC street.
Now I'm hungry.
Eddie

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Is that place still there?! I've got a picture of myself and Cpl Bill Simmons chowing down on a platter of tacos at Charlie's just before Christmas '86.........Every time I look at those pictures I feel a little bit older, and a little bit [b]wider[/b]! [:D] If I could turn back the clock and be 18 again, I'd haul ass down to the Marine Corps recruiter and sign up again!

It has gone down hill ever since the 95 rape, ever MEF commander has made it more restrictive. The rape was the impetus for the SACO (Special Action COmmittee) agreement which was basically the beginning of spiral of appeasing the Japanese. 12th Marines were forced to move from Foster to Hansen because the gun park was by HW 58 and the very sight of howitzers offended the Japanese. When I was there a while back the Japanese were protesting because a F15 crashed into the ocean and a CH53 did an emergency landing. The Japanese were going pulling "what would happen if a crash on the Island occurred" card. A funny thing happened when a Japanese farmer found a 50 cal projo from probably the Second World War. We had to stop shooting 50 cals on the island for about 4 months because he claimed that Marines were trying to shoot him, although where it was found was like 4 miles from the nearest 50 cal range.

Where ever you go in life,make sure everyone knows you are a MARINE!
It tickles the shit out of us old guys and scares the shit out of everyone else.
Actually,I haven't been there since'69,but I would ckeck out all the old WW II caves,scuba dive and maybe get your static line license if you haven't already.
There is a ton of stuff to do besides the usual
$2 short time,$3 long time--did I say I hadn't been there since '69?

Oh, the memories - was there in 1979.
First off, you cannot go to Okinawa without, at least once, pissing in a Benjo ditch - LOL.
Next, go the Suicide Hill - very interesting history there. Nearby was a Jap underground Naval base in WW2 - I remember this vividly because my dad, a Marine Corps Lt. Col, was with me and the family on a tour there. The Jap tour guide was going on in graphic detail about how the Marines in WW2 would use flamethrowers and suffocate all the Japs in the tunnels - I noticed that we were the only Gaijin there surrounded by a shitload of Japs. When they all turned to start staring at us with evil looks in their eyes, my dad looked at them all and SMILED! I about bust a gut. Made me so damn proud.
There's also a really neat medieval Japanese castle up the hill from Camp Butler, I believe. We lived halfway up the hill and it was really cool to explore all around it.
Word of advice - if you go out in the water, wear jeans and heavy shoes, even while in the water. I swear to god there are more poisonous critters on and in the water in Okinawa than anywhere else I've ever been.
Oh, something else that was neat was the floating city, totally self sufficient, that was left over from the 1975 (I believe) World's Fair - really neat, if it is still there.
Too bad you won't have enough time to visit Ie Shima - where Ernie Pyle died. There is a memorial there that my Scout troop helped to clean up and repair while I lived there. Pretty sobering.

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